Frigid Conditions
by hpnerd121
Summary: Jack Frost has gone for centuries all alone. For years, he has pleaded with the Man in the Moon to give him a companion. Finally, he grants the frosty guardian's request. Set after the movie.
1. The Girl in The Woods

**~Chapter One~**

In a lonely forest, as far away from civilization as it is possible to be nowadays, a tall girl in a ragged white gown wanders through the woods. The icy branches catch at her bare ankles and the hem of her dress, but she ignores them, as well as the icy wind that cuts through the thin sleeves of her fancy coat. Sharp rocks dig in to her bare feet, her shoes lost somewhere behind her. As she wanders like a pale ghost, she sings softly to herself. A pale boy, attracted by the tune winding through the freezing air, flying towards the ground before settling down on one of the lower branches of the tree. Snow slides onto the ground with a soft noise, but both of them ignore it. The boy settles down on the branch, getting comfortable in order to listen to the singing of the girl, who continues on, unaware of her pale spectator.

"Walkin' in a winter wonderland..." The girl's voice is not particularly good, but it makes the whole scene seem more real, and is beautiful in it's own way. Jack Frost basks in the fascinating scene for a few minutes more before lazily calling out

"Aren't you cold?" The tune stops suddenly, and the girl pauses, saying "Not particularly..." in a dreamy sort of voice. Jack is so shocked he falls off his branch. Somehow he holds onto his staff as he plummets into the bank of snow built up against the trunk of the tree, his legs flailing comically. Giving himself no time to recover, he leaps up and doesn't even bother to brush the snow that clings to his blue hoodie before he darts forward and reaches out a tentative hand towards her half-bare shoulder. Just before he brushes her skin, her song falters, then gives out entirely. The frosty boy gets half a second of warning before her legs collapse and she falls into his ready arms. To his surprise, she is warm, despite the fact that she was presumably wandering around in a snowy forest in a thin dress for a few hours. He looks down at her worryingly pale face and decides that she could do with a visit to the north pole. He pulls off his hoodie and awkwardly wraps her in it. Then there is the issue of carrying her prone body while flying with his twisted staff. Eventually he slings her unceremoniously over his shoulder and shoots off to the icy north.

About halfway there, the girl's limp form slips off his shoulder and he almost drops his staff while flying over the arctic ocean. Fumbling with her in mid-air, Jack's grip slips on the worn wood of his staff and it tumbles down. He falls, readjusting his hold on the lethargic girl as he reaches out with his toes and nabs the staff. His plummeting fall turns into a swoop, as his hair is blown back and he feels the girl's ribs cut into his shoulder. He winces and attempts to rearrange his grip, hooking his shepards crook on his forearm this time.

When he finally reaches North's workshop, he blows in without delay. North and the Yetis, not used to this kind of seriousness from Jack, immediately bustle out to meet him, alerted by the frost spreading on the windows. They stop short when they see Jack crouching over a slim figure. The only thing North can see is one extremely pale hand, and snowy white hair pooling out from behind Jack's shoulder.

Pale eyelids flutter open, revealing azure irises. They flick around the room before settling on a pale boy barely visible through the partially ajar door.

"What do you think North? She could see me in the woods, but she was kind of out of it." A mischievous light sparks in the cerulean orbs, but the eyelashes flutter shut before she hears the response.

Once more the mysterious girl opens her eyes. Again, they take in the room- high ceiling, dark wardrobe, and warm wood. Once more, they find the pale boy, this time slumped in a chair by the bedside. A decidedly wicked smile curls across her face, and once more she closes her eyes, arranging herself into peaceful slumber once more. Then, she made a show of waking up, groaning, rolling over, then stretching with a delicate yawn. The boy stirs, and she throws back her covers. She doesn't have to fake surprise at the tattered dress she's wearing, and although there isn't time to change, she still gives a longing glance to the wardrobe in the corner, wishing to cover herself in more protection than the thin fabric of the dress. Her toes flex, and she forces herself to ignore the boy as he tentatively says "Hello?" Instead she starts singing quietly to herself "Walking in a winter wonderland...In the meadow, we can throw our sled down, and go sliding over ice and snow," Behind her, she hears the creak of wood and the tap of the wooden staff that had been propped against the headboard. In a low voice, the winter spirit says "You know, those aren't the words to that song." The girl lets off of her singing and says in an aloof voice "Well, you know what, maybe I like my lyrics better." She then turns just in time to catch the look of absolute shock that came over his face at her response. She busts up laughing, savoring the results of her prank. To her surprise, he starts laughing too, merrily enjoying his humiliation.

"Hi," He greets, "My name is Jack Frost."

"Pleasure." She steps forward smartly, offering a hand to the boy. He pulls back, surprised and unused to the ritual of shaking hands. Then, something strikes her.

"Wait, like _the _Jack Frost?" He nods, clearly pleased at her reaction. "Like, patterns on the windows? Icy sidewalks?" He begins to frown at that last one.

"No, that's more just a side affect of winter weather."

"Like, old man winter?" He pouts, scrunching up his nose in the most adorable way.

"_No,_" he says adamantly, "I'm not a grumpy old man and I'm not a little elf."

"Well, I can see that much," She says, having to gaze up at him despite being tall herself. The pout fades, and an excited smile grows.

"What's your name?" He askes, like a child.

"My name's...Winter. Yes, that seems about right."


	2. Easter Eggs and Pranks

**A/N: Greeting, readers!**

**I hope you like chapter two of the story. If you could leave a review, it really encourages me to know that people are at least reading. I will try and upload every day, if possible.**

Jack's eyes are full of wonder as he gazes at the door that separates him from Winter. Just a few minutes before, she had shoved him out of her room, intent on changing out of her ratty dress. He didn't admit that he was sad to see it go- that dress reminded him of that girl in the woods, the one who sung to herself and looked around with a dreamy expression. Still, he reminds himself, it's silly to attach sentimentality to a lifeless scrap of fabric... Wasn't it?

Behind the solid wooden door, Winter searches through the wardrobe in the corner for an outfit. Normally, she doesn't care much for what she wears, but this closet is so full of clothes, it takes a while to sift through them.

The fact that they are all in her size surprises her.

Stranger things have happened, she reminds herself. However, the clothing is what unnerves her the most about this strange place. Did they measure me while I was asleep? She wonders. Is this a setup, somehow? Neither seem likely. Still, she becomes even more wary of the strange location. Finally, she finds a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and pulls them on. One of the first things in the closet was a dark purple hoodie, so she pulls that over a thin T-shirt. At the bottom of the closet, she finds a pair of matching purple converse, and ties them tightly onto her feet.

Straightening, she studies herself in the mirror. At first she worries that the skinny jeans will be to tight to run in (should the worst come to the worst) but finds that they stretch nicely.

Jack pushes away from the wall as the door opens. Out comes Winter, dressed in a painfully practical outfit. No more fanciful white dresses. Jack crushes his disappointment and summons up a smirk.

"Nice sweatshirt," he says.

"Thanks!" Comes Winter's bright responds. "Look, we match. Twinsies!" They both chuckle, comparing their sleeves, but then Jack gestures grandly down the hallway.

"Shall we?" He asks, offering her the crook of his arm like a southern gentleman. Winter hooks her arm in his, and like this, they set off down the hall.

"Shall we sing a song?" Winter asks, dispelling the silence.

"Alright," Jack agrees amicably.

"What's your favorite carol?"

"Guess." Jack grins in anticipation of a game. After pondering the question for a little bit, Winter starts into a tune.

"Chestnuts roasting, on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose..." Her voice is low but beautiful. Before she can really get into it, Jack cuts her off with a sake of his head.

"No, that would be too easy, wouldn't it?" The girl murmurs to herself.

"And too vain," Jack jokes, getting a laugh before she trays again.

"Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow..." She continues merrily into the song. Jack enjoys it, but then the frosty boy shakes his head.

"Hm." Jack thinks for a moment he has stumped her, but she sings again, this time deep and low.

"Silver bells... Silver bells..." As before, Jack lets her sing a few verses before stopping her.

"It does have to do with snow and cold and all that, right?" Winter asks, frustrated.

"Of course," says Jack mildly, gazing at the gorgeous carving on the frame of a door as the pass. Vaguely, he wonders why they haven't seen any elves, but that train of thought quickly derails when Winter starts into another tune.

Her voice is much deeper as she sings slowly

"I'm dreaming of a white christmas... just like the ones I-" Laughing, Jack cuts her off.

"That's definitely not it." The girl shakes back her short, white hair and scrunches up her nose, thinking. Her eyes light up with an epiphany and she takes a deep breath.

"Sleigh bells ring, aren't you listenin'? In the lane, snow is glistening..." Instead of shaking his head regretfully, Jack joins in, to the girl's surprise.

"Walkin' in a winter wonderland," They sing, practically skipping down the hall. Jack's voice is not too good, but together they sing happily enough and their voices ring around the wood-panelled walls. They sing as they stride into the large room, only to stop, surprised, at the sight of North and a large crowd of elves sitting on the floor, painting eggs.

"Frosty? Was that you I just heard... _singing?_" An australian accent rises from behind the globe as a massive rabbit pokes his head around the winking globe. Spotting Winter, he rises gracefully to his feet and strides over and around the multitude of elves.

"And who's this lovely lady?" He asks, coming to a stop in front of the linked couple. As if suddenly aware of their contact, Jack leaps away from her and stares at the ground. Although he doesn't blush, frost creeps across his hoodie (More than what was already there) And the ground underneath his toes. Bunny can't help but chortle at his embarrassed expression. At least, until the ice creeps under his toes and he slips. As his feet go out from under him, the half-painted egg flys out of his grip and lands in the midst of several elves, causing them to squeal and scramble away from the smashed shell spinning away from the crushed innards of the hard-boiled egg like fragments from a bomb. The peculiar little creatures drop their eggs, and a pot of yellow dye seeps across the floor, tainting any and all eggs it touches. Jack shares a wicked grin with Winter, and both start laughing. The easter bunny bounds upright, looking furious, but loses his footing and skids across the floor again, which only makes the devious pair laugh harder.

The only way to placate the Bunny was for Jack to promise to help paint eggs until they replaced all the eggs that they had ruined.

The pair sat over by North, armed with paintbrushes and a dozen eggs in several colors.

"So...What-" begins Jack, but before he can articulate the question North finishes it.

"Is with all the egg painting?"

**Thanks again for reading!**


	3. Flowers of Frost

**A/N: Because of how many people have seen this story, I'm uploading it tonight instead of tomorrow! I know it's kinda short but I hope you like it just the same. Remember to review!**

In the middle of the North Pole, a beautiful wooden building sits, perched on the icy slope. Covered in snow and ice, it looks like a part of the landscape as much as the mountain. In the center of the largest building, a massive room with vaulted ceilings and a beautiful globe is full of hundreds of eggs. A large rabbit directs hordes of tiny red elves with pointy, belled hats, as well as a few furry yetis. In front of the globe, a large man in a red coat with a lengthy beard holds a tiny egg up to his face, carefully painting with a wooden brush. Beside him sit two teenagers with matching white hair, also painting, although perhaps a little less delicately. The male has long legs that fold like the legs of a spider, while the girl sits with crossed legs and a rather bemused expression.

"Well, turns out I _can't _eat 50 cookies in a row." Jack was giggling with silent laughter as the man augments his russian accent with sweeping gestures, nearly nailing Winter in the face with his paintbrush. Jack Frost just manages to rearrange his expression into one of polite curiosity as North turns back to him.

"Oh, is that so?" As Winter wipes flecks of green paint off her cheek, she can't help but be impressed with his acting, considering how much he was laughing.

"Yes, I couldn't believe it either! So, I lost the bet. And now we must paint." Winter turns her attention back to her egg, groaning when she sees the splashes of paint that are splattered across it's surface. That was the third egg she ruined. Seizing the paintbrush that North had just replaced in the pot, she painted green stripes over the already red egg.

"Too christmasy, mate," orders the bunny as he hops by. Scowling, Winter chucks her egg at a passing elf, grinning when he runs off squealing, covered in streaks of dye.

"Hey, what's up?" Asks Jack around the carmine mass of North, finally noticing her foul expression.

"I just can't get the hang of this egg painting thing!" Winter growls. Jack stifles a smirk-not very well, but Winter appreciates the effort. Not.

"Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it eventually," He reassures, with a smile that was kind rather than teasing. Winter smiles reluctantly, cheered up by his genuine beam.

"Easy for you to say," she says, only half joking as she gestures at the pile of eggs that were perfectly painted with all sorts of snowflakes, sledding scene, and frost. Jack merely smirks and goes back to painting his egg.

With a frustrated sigh, Winter picks up yet another egg. This time grabbing the white paint, she furiously smashes the brush into the orange surface of the egg.

"Oi, careful with the brushes, now." Says Bunny, stopping to look at her egg as she puts it on top of the meager pile of finished eggs.

"What kind of an egg is that?" He asks. Furious, Winter picks up another egg and repeats the gesture.

"It's a snowball." came the grumpy reply. Peals of laughter rang out from behind the red mountain between them. Even North laughs, throwing his head back and sending the sound bouncing around the high ceiling. Bunny scowls, although Winter brightens up noticeably at the merry laughter.

"Bunny, I think it's time for break, no?" The russian rumbles. "Perhaps for cookies?" Abandoning his egg and paintbrush, Jack leaps up.

"Actually, I was gonna take Winter outside." Bunny and North exchange a _look, _a very worrying one according to Winter. Nevertheless, she allows Jack to drag her out of the main room into a hallway. As they walk down yet another hall, Winter has to ask

"So... Santa Claus?" Jack simply nods.

"And... the Easter Bunny?" He nods again. Winter tries to take this in her stride, although she admits it's getting kinda difficult to believe at this point.

Jack leads her into a mud room of a sort off to the side of the globe room. Amidst piles of boots, gloves, coats, and other wintertime accessories, a huge double door with stained glass window panes is locked from the inside.

"Come on!" crys Jack, giving Winter no time to put on anything heavier than a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. He pulls open the door, and a gust of wind pours in from the outside. Winter squints. Through the door is pure white, and it's so blinding she is dazed, which give Jack more than enough opportunity to jerk her outside.

"No!" Winter crys, instinctually pulling back from the icy cold...

that didn't come.

_Huh? _The girl thinks. Her hair blows about in the wind as she kicks at the snow curiously. _It isn't cold... _All at once, a thousand things tumble through her mind, everything from movie sets from extremely early onset hypothermia, but none can truely match the undeniable evidence- She doesn't feel cold. At all. Infact, as another icy wind comes rushing by her, she actually laughs, exhilarated by the feeling of wind on her neck.

"Jack!" she cries, and sees how joyful he looks. "I don't feel cold!" He looks so happy in that moment, joy lighting up his face like a lantern from within, she just wants to see this radiant Jack as much as possible. The spirit laughs with pure joy, throwing back his head and whooping into the empty tundra. From inside, the other two guardians hear his howl and smile at eachother, knowing that their suspicions had been true.

Jack pulls Winter over to the window on the door and rubs at it with his sleeve, scraping off the frost. Grabbing her hand, he forces her fingers toward the glass. At first, Winter resists, but as soon as she touches the glass Jack lets go of her wrist, but she hardly notices.

All across the glass, beautiful fern-like patterns curl across the pane. Like flowers unfolding, they only stop when they reach the edge of the glass. Jack is laughing, his smile so large it might just tear his face in two, and he jumps off the ground, rotating and caterwauling the whole way up. Winter stares up in amazement as he floats for a second hundreds of feet above the ground, then falls, turning so that he faces the ground and gathering speed as he grows nearer to the permafrost.

Winter screams and tries to move out of the way, but Jack is going so fast that by the time his intentions are clear he has already hit her, carrying her wedding style and swooping back into the air.


	4. Flying over Canada

**A/N: Wow! So many people like my story! I'm so glad :D**

**Enjoy! Remember to review!**

Winter gives a small shriek as Jack hits her, almost knocking the wind out of her. His momentum carries them both into the air, a gust from behind carrying them higher. The girl gasps, both from the punch to her gut and the view over Jack's shoulder at the snowy ground retreating far below. Jack hears her intake and smiles, slowing at the apex of his swoop, still holding onto her tightly. She gazes at the incredible landscape below, mouth gaping in wonder. Jack's grip loosens, and before Winter can do anything more that look down in fear, she slips out of his grip and plummets to the ground. Her legs flail and the wind blows her hair and the hood of her jacket almost straight up. Winter's high pitched scream echoes around the craggy mountains as the ground gets alarmingly close, the ice no longer looking beautiful but rather cold and unforgiving. Winter is certain she cannot survive a fall from this height, and closes her eyes as she gets ever closer to the deadly beauty that sparkles below her.

The wind around her increases noticeably, and she feels herself slowing. Finally, she comes to a standstill, hovering in the frigid air. Glancing around, she expects to see Jack floating somewhere nearby, directing the wind that saved her. Instead, she hears the sound of Jack's contagious laughter echoing around underneath her. She looks down. The distance still remaining to the ground is enough that her shock causes her to drop slightly, but she manages to make out Jack's blue hoodie against the blinding backdrop, much too far below the presumed range of the wind. Closing her eyes, she wills herself up, and the wind becomes deafening as she rises a few feet. Opening her eyes again, she finds Jack's astoundingly blue irises inches from her own. The frozen girl shoots backward a few feet, causing her male counterpart to laugh again. Seizing her hands, he whirls around, like Charon and Pluto spinning in their endless dance. Eventually, the centripetal force rips them apart and sends them tumbling head over heels in opposite directions. Jack steadies himself first, giggling, and watches as Winter reoriented herself, using her arms to stabilize herself. Finally, she too comes to a halt (As much as possible while floating in the air) and giggles at Jack floating a good 20 feet away and 5 feet above her. Just then, North hollers out the door.

"Jack! Winter! Break's over!" He quickly ducks back inside to avoid frostbite, muttering in Russian about the two irresponsible teens. Winter soars over to Jack and nearly smashes into him before stopping in front of him and groaning at the prospect of ruining more eggs. A conspiratorial grin grows across his face like spilled paint, transforming his entire face into the mischievous grin he wears so often.

"We don't _have _to paint eggs." Winter's eyes widened.

"But you made a promise!"

"I said I'd make it up to him, not that I would paint eggs. I can do it later." Winter feels guilty, but _really _hates painting eggs. She deliberates for a moment more, then grins excitedly and says

"Where to?" Jack Frost gestures with his icy staff in a southerly direction and Winter sets off, zooming away from the archetypal workshop.

As they fly, the sun sets, spilling dying light like the last gasps of blood from a gaping wound over the tundra as it sinks below the horizon. The light is reflected back up at them from the sparkling snow and makes the whole world seem tinted with a rosy tinge. Jack's white hair is stained as he smiles over at Winter, who still seems out of control and, every so often, completely tumbles head over heads around in a summersault. This fails to stop her from gazing down at the frothy waves as they soar out over an ocean. As they fly over the land again, speeding up, it transforms from a frozen, barren landscape to snowy plains dotted with small towns and villages. As they soar over the largest city so far, fat flakes begin drifting from the cloud just above them. As the stream of air carrying her sends the small particles spinning into eddies and whirls like leaves in a river, Winter gazes over at Jack, who smiles at her as snow gathers on his hoodie and eyelashes. Suddenly, he swoops downwards, shouting as he flies down in between the buildings, bouncing of cars and the buildings, spreading frost wherever he touches. Winter stays above him, not confident enough in her flying abilities to attempt any fancy tricks yet, but manages to frost over the windows of a few office buildings, even if she has to slow almost to a standstill to do it. Jack flies up towards the girl floating above the city, the cold air pushing his hair back from his joyful face. He floats for a second, flying next to her just long enough to touch her on the shoulder before plummeting and rotating until he is facing the ground. His shout of "Tag!" spurs Winter into action. Dropping after Jack, she throws her arms back in an attempt to streamline her body and catch up with him.

They fly in such a manner, Winter finally managing to catch him just as New York City begins to glow on the horizon. It dyes the whole sky a sickly orange. Winter looks excitedly at Jack, but he continues. Over cities and towns, only occasionally ducking in between buildings to spread winter cheer. Finally, in a part of the country that is almost as snowy as the north pole, Jack slows. By now, Winter is lagging, exhausted. Noticing the bags under her eyes, standing out in sharp contrast to her pale skin, Jack slows over a small clearing near a tiny town. He lands in a tree, then catches her as she awkwardly lands too.

In an unspoken agreement, they propped themselves up in the tree, close enough to be touching, but not so close as to be touching all the time.

**If anyone is interested, I am looking for an editor. If you wish to be involved and read my chapters first (As if) just PM me and I would love to have someone look over my chapters before I post them!**


	5. A Frozen Lake

**Can you spot the Shakespeare Quote? I believe there's one for any and all situations.**

Just as the sun reaches its apex and starts marching steadily downwards, the pair awakes. Immediately Jack is up, tugging at Winter to join him. She is a bit more sluggish, but awakes when he pushes her out of the tree. Failing to catch herself, she lands in a huge drift of snow. Picking herself up and dusting herself off (as Jack laughs in the tree), she takes time to look over the grotto. It is covered in a fresh foot of snow, which she guesses is a result from the pair blowing into town last night. _Or early this morning, _she amends, _depending on how one wishes to look at it. _A small lake, covered in ice and snow, winks and gleams at her from the sunlight glinting of the ice, exposed by wind. The sky is a beautiful, endless blue. The bare branches of the trees cut open the sky as Winter cranes her head backward, unbalanced by the dizzying height and color of the atmosphere.

The warmth of the day increases as they fly towards the small town nearby, but the snow and ice remains crisp and white. Jack, smiling excitedly, perches on the roof of a house and leans precariously over the gutter, gazing into a frost encrusted window. Winter, edging toward the edge of the house, hears two excited cries from children hidden by the overhang of the roof. Jack looks over his shoulder and says

"wait here." He grinned delightedly at his new companion. Before Winter can ask where he's going, he jumps off the roof, gracefully swinging into the window with one hand on the gutter. It creaked as he let go, and Winter scooted forward, wondering why he was going into this home. He hears excited shrieks and giggles, from two young children.

"Alright, guys," She hears the familiar giggle in his voice, although she had never heard him speak so warmly before. "I have a surprise."

"Snow day!" comes the excited shout.

"No," laughs Jack, "Well, yes, but that's not the surprise." She hears the eldest hem and haw, while a very young girl shouts

"Bunny! Hop hop hop!" Winter scoots just a little bit further to the edge of the roof, knocking some snow onto the ground. She can just see traceries of frost on the white windowsill now.

"No, not the Easter bunny either." Winter can practically hear Jack's grin. "Better."

"Better than the Easter bunny? Woah." Winter scoffs to herself.

"I'm way better than that bossy egg painter." Jack pokes his head out the window, almost startling Winter off the roof. He smiles approvingly.

"I know, right?" His name is shouted behind him, and he looks inside before giving the girl one last gleaming smile and ducking back into the house.

"Jack, who were you talking to?"

"Well..." Winter can hear the barely-contained excitement in his voice. "I have a partner!"

"Whoa!"

"I know, right?"

"Can he control the winter weather?"

"She," Jack corrects, "and yeah! She's awesome!" Once again he pokes his head out the window, looking up at Winter just in time to get a face full of snow.

"Hey!" He cries, but his smile contradicts his annoyance. Winter smiles sweetly.

"Thank you for the compliment, by the way." Jack scowls, but it soons turns into a smirk.

"Come on down!" He ducks back inside, and she hears him ushering the children out of the way. Shaking out her arms, Winter jumps off the house, snagging onto the gutter and swinging perfectly into a child's bedroom, even managing to execute a roll as she lands. Turning, she sees two wide eyed children, one a male with brown hair and the other a younger girl with sloppily cut blond hair.

"Okay," says Winter, flicking her alabaster hair back from her face, revealing her sparkling blue eyes, "Tell me everyone saw that, because I am _not _doing it again." The two kids cheer and clap, and even Jack looks impressed.

"Well, the one cool moment of my life, at least it was a lasting first impression." Jack smirks.

"Actually, I think your life is going to be nothing if not cool," he says, tapping his staff and spreading frost across the ground towards her sneakers. She grins at his wordplay.

"Y'know, I'm kind of a walking oxymoron, if we're taking cool that way." Jack walks right into her pun.

"Oh? Howso?"

"Well, I'm both hot and cold." _Pause for laughter. _As the young boy gets the joke, he cracks up, although Jack merely smirks again.

"Right," he says, clapping his hands together. "Time to get dressed." His and Winter's eyes meet, and she says quietly, almost to herself,

"I like this place and could willingly waste my time in it."


	6. Snowballs and Fun Times

**A/N Chapter 6! Sorry it took so long. I was having issues with this chapter, and plus I went skiing and wasn't able to write... Anyway, enjoy!**

It took the dynamic duo nearly an hour to get the rambunctious siblings dressed, fed, and ready to go into the fresh 9 inches of snow. Their mother helped, although her household was soon in shambles because of her unknown guests. The two kids were so excited about the snow, herding them into the kitchen for a late lunch was next to impossible.

"It's like herding cats," mutters Winter to Jack as she catches the girl trying to dart past her. As they slowly move downstairs, Jack introduces them.

"Jamie, Winter. Winter, Jamie." He presents them like a proud owner trotting out his prize ponies. As they move downstairs, Jack mutters the story to her: how he (Jamie) was his first believer, and helped him defeat Pitch, and all that. Winter thinks it is absolutely adorable. When he got to the hug in front of santa's sleigh, Winter lets out a high pitched squeal.

"Squee! That's _adorable,_" she gushes, to Jack and Jamie's mutual embarrassment.

Finally, they make it to the kitchen for sandwiches and juice, presented by their bemused mother. During the light meal, Jack and Winter amuse everyone by trying to make Jamie laugh and spit pineapple juice out of his nose.

"Y'know, earlier Jack was singing." Winter says casually as Jamie takes a sip. He chokes, spitting his drink back into his glass.

"What, exactly?" He coughs, eyes watering.

"Walking in a Winter Wonderland." They chuckle as Jack looks down in embarrassment and plots his revenge. When Jamie next takes a drink, Jack mentions shoving Winter out of a tree.

Neither of them succeed, until with the last gulp of his drink, they both blurt out

"Santa's painting eggs for the easter bunny!" Finally, that gets him, leaving him giggling as well as clutching his nose.

"Ow," he groans, even as his sister shrieks with laughter. Winter apologizes, although Jack is too busy laughing to say anything.

Finally, they end up in the room just off the main one, one with a washer and a drier and with a closet full of coats and gloves and the dozens of clothes necessary to go outside in the snow and stay reasonably warm and dry. Jack gives a tug on a sleeve near the bottom, and a huge pile comes crashing down. The four of them look down on the huge pile for a few seconds, then Sophie darts forward and pulls out a small pair of pink snow pants.

While Jack helps Jamie, Winter helps search out the whole set of pink snow gear from the huge pile. In a surprisingly short time, Winter is tugging a hat over Sophie's ragged blond hair, and Jamie is pulling on his boots. Finally, finally, they pull open the door, flinching from the brightness of the snow and the sun. Jack and Winter are out the door almost immediately, but Sophie and Jamie take a little longer to flounder through the several feet of snow and shut the door before they let the cold in. Finally, Jamie grabs his sleigh from where it rests against the shed, brushing off snow and ice with his clumsy gloves. The snow muffles everything but the shouts cutting through the crisp air from the nearby park. Cries of joy greet Jack and Jamie as they fly up, then Jack introduces Winter. She is flying overhead, twirling tightly like a figure skater. At her name, she plummets to the ground, failing to land as gracefully as she did in Jamie's bedroom. A laugh goes up as she plows into the ground, sending up a huge cloud of snow in a pile of flailing limbs. Something about the smile on her face as she throws snowballs at the chortling kids makes Jack suspect that the crash wasn't as genuine as everyone else seemed to believe.

"Funny," he mutters to her, as they stand back to back, defending against the kids with hordes of snowballs. "I've never seen you crash that bad. Not even the first time you landed." Her faint blush tells him everything. Targeting a kid running up with a snowball, he chuckles quietly to himself. Anyone who was willing to make a fool of themselves for a bit of fun was alright in his books.

Despite the sheer amount of kids, Jack and Winter hold them all off with sheer skill. Finally, the kids conceed, and Winter takes a group of the younger ones off to the side to build forts and snowmen, while Jack slicks down the largest hill in town for sledding. They shrieks of joy soon draw the younger kids over to the hill as well. With a few makeshift sleds fashioned from garbage bags retrieved from a nearby home, all the kids are laughing with joy, and thus, Jack and Winter are laughing too.

**A/N (again) So, I think I'm going to make this a series of stories about Winter and Jack and all the things that happen to them. This format isn't really working out for me, plus I had no plot in mind. So...**


	7. Hot (and Cold) Chocolate

_In which_

Winter Meets the Gang

"Jack, I'm not so sure about this." Winter hangs back from the welcoming door to North's workshop.

"Nonsense." Jack waves off her objections. "You knew this had to come some day." He looks delighted at her discomfort.

"But- Jack-" Winter struggles as he hooks her waist with the hook of his staff. "Jack!" She shrieks as he drags her forward. "Jack, no!" her sneakers scrabble against the icy ground, unable to get any traction, probably due to the fact that Jack is freezing the ground under her feet. Winter simultaneously tries to pull back from him and melt the ground under her, but she was never as strong as him and he manages to pull her inside and shut the door behind them.

"No- stop-" Winter is struggling quietly now, painfully aware of the people on the other side of the door. Jack gives her a huge, wicked grin before pulling open the door and unhooking her. Winter stands there under the gazes of four beings like a deer under headlights.

"Presenting, my partner, Winnnnteerrr!" Jack adopts the persona of an announcer, using his staff as a pretend microphone. Tooth, is, of course, the first to dart forward.

"Hi, I'm Tooth. Open please?" Winter, taken aback by the overwhelming personality of Tooth, steps back and keeps her mouth firmly closed.

"Tooth," Jack says repremendingly.

"Sorry," Tooth looks embarrassed, pressing her legs together and looking down. "I just wanted to make sure she's been flossing!" She looks pleadingly at Jack. Rolling his eyes, Jack introduces the group.

"You've met North and Bunny, of course." Winter gives a little wave to the pair.

"And here's Sandy!" Sandy shakes hands with Winter, creating a little hat out of shimmering sand to take off to her. The girl can't help but smile. Over his head, the small man produces an image of Jack's staff, then a question mark.

"Oh-" says Winter, correctly interpreting the question "- I don't need one. I've tried using one, but I prefer my hands and feet." She taps the toe of her purple shoes on the floor, and frost curls out from the point of contact.

"Oooh, pretty!" Tooth zips over to study the already fading pattern. Winter smiles at the mini fairies that fly around her face, studying her.

"Your teeth are just as white as Jack's!" Tooth squeals. The fairies flutter in front of her face, studying the inside of her mouth. A faint blush tints the girl's fair face as she closes her mouth and shoos off the fairies. They disperse, only to fly over to Jack, who receives them more favorably, glowing under the attention. One remains behind, fluttering by Winter's neck. She giggles, jerking away from the delicate feathers.

"Oh, stop, I'm terribly ticklish." Jack immediately turns his attention to his friend, jumping in front of her.

"Ticklish, you say?" He says, studying his staff nonchalantly. "How... interesting."

"No-" Winter steps away from the cold boy, holding her hands up to fend the spirit off. "Don't you _dare, _Jack-"

"Dare what? I'm afraid I don't understand, dear friend." Jack tilts his head, feigning innocence.

"Oh, you-" Winter continues moving away from him, stopping only when she bumps into Tooth. Turning, she apologizes awkwardly. The moment her attention shifts, even if it's only for a second, Jack seizes the opportunity, darting forward with fingers outstretched. As his staff clatters to the ground, his fingers worm their way into Winter's side.

"Jack!" The pair falls over, unbalanced by the weight of Jack. Winter shrieks with involuntary laughter, protesting as best she could "Stop- _stop it-_Jack!" She shouts between giggles. "Get off me!" Jack is laughing too, right up until Tooth drags him off of Winter. His toes wiggle, managing to tickle her still, until Winter pulls herself upright. She approaches the boy with fingers outstretched menacingly, as he tugs and attempts to extricate himself from the tight grip of the fluttering female behind him.

Winter retaliates, tickling Jack until he begs for mercy, while North chuckles and Sandy silently cheers her on. Jack clambers up, kicking his staff up to his hand, still chuckling.

"Why did you take her side?" He accuses his fellow guardians, but can't keep the smile off his face.

So, Winter's first meeting with the guardians was concluded with hot chocolate by the fire, although the wintery pair cooled their coco and sat back from the fire.

"So, Winter," Asks Tooth, who is settled down on the hearth, her beautifully feathered legs tucked under her, "Where's your favorite place, in the world I mean, that you've visited so far?"

"I like bringing snow to the ski slopes, especially in Colorado, because the mountains there are so beautiful. Everyone gets so excited! It's gratifying to see your work appreciated."

"I like Quebec. They have a whole festival about winter!" Jack interjects.

"One would think I would be the one who liked that." Winter responds thoughtfully. Everyone chortles. Just then, a fairy zips over to Winter, landing on the finger offered. Winter giggles as she holds the beautifully feathered creature up to her eyes, to better study the small thing. The tooth fairy chirrups under the attention, bashfully hiding her face under a wing. Admiring the way the firelight glints of the rainbow of feathers, Winter answers Tooth's inquiry about Christmas.

"Jack and I would love to come!" Winter replies, breaking her stare at the miniscule fairy to smile at the shimmering fairy.

After hot (or cold) chocolate, the group said goodbye.

"We're seeing you for Christmas, no?" confirms North after a tight hug.

"Of course," agrees Jack.

The gang disperses, with Winter and Jack soaring away over the tundra.

**Sorry it's late... I was all done when I realized that I had only written half a chapter .**


	8. Faith Lost

**A/N: Dear lord it has been a long time! **

**I'm super sorry for the wait, hopefully this chapter is worth it! :)**

_In Which_

A Believer Loses Faith

Winter had been Jack's companion for six years. They flew around, had fun, but Winter never knew why she had been chosen, out of all the fun-loving pranksters, why she was the one who was to accompany Jack Frost.  
Jack had reassured her whenever she went back to this train of thought, like a dog at a stubborn bone. You'll know eventually, he says. I did. _After three hundred years of solitude and silence,_ is the thought that accompanies these words, unspoken, but there nevertheless. Still, Winter is comforted by these words, and by the mere existence of her best friend.

Winter blows into town a few hours after Jack does, full of cheer like always. That is, until she registers the horrendous storm raging around the small town of Burgess. The smile slides off her face like rain dripping down a window. Worry lights in her eyes, and, putting her arms by her sides to fly through the town as fast as she can, heedless of the snow and ice stinging her face.  
Winter whips around town like a rumour, quick as thought. Finally, finally, she finds him.  
Icicles gleam on the edge of the roof like knives, catching what little light there is to find. He sits on the roof, staff beside him, with his arms around his knees. Even from a distance, Winter can see his shoulders shaking as he sobs. She drops to the roof, stumbling in the half a foot of snow that's piled up into drifts along the flat surface.  
"Jack, Jack, oh, Jack," she says frantically, reaching out to touch him. He jerks away from her, tears flinging from his eyes. One gleaming drop lands on her hand, and where it touches, it feels hot, hot like grease flung from a pan, so unnatural coming from the embodiment of winter itself. Flicking it off, Winter reaches out once more, to attempt to comfort the weeping boy. This time, he allows her, sinking into her hug.  
"What happened?" Winter asks gently, the curiosity gnawing at her too insistent to ignore.  
"He- he-" For a moment, it seems as though Jack won't be able to get the words out, but finally he chokes out, so quietly Winter nearly misses it over the howling wind:  
"Jamie walked through me." A shot of razor sharp ice shoots through Winter's core, freezing her in a way she had not known for over six years. She feels her fingers and toes go numb, and for a second, a ghastly, deplorable second, she can imagine- no, feel- herself freezing to death, the horrible icy fingers reaching greedily into her core. With an effort, Winter pulls herself back into the present, staring down at the crying boy in her lap.  
His hot tears left behind bright red trails, making it a simple twist to imagine him crying blood-  
No, I have to focus. Remembering the tales Jack told of his past, Winter makes a visible effort to push back tears (why now, why do they prick her eyes, why now?) and sits Jack up.  
"Listen, Jack." he ignores her, looking down at his knees. "Jack. Listen to me." Winter speaks in a commanding voice, one that Jack had only heard a few times before in all their time together. He looks up.  
"It's going to be alright." The moment the words leave her mouth, Winter regrets them. Jack looks up, and in his eyes is something dark and dangerous, a cornered animal turning to snap. Snatching up his staff, he turns and throws the forces of winter at his companion. Winter only has time to throw up her hands before a huge force of ice, snow and wind engulf her in a cloud of white. All the snow is blasted off the roof, and in the radius of the dead zone, Winter lies curled on the slate grey rooftop. Jack's anger clears, and he takes in the cuts and vicious slashes oozing red from Winter's hands and face. The girl sits up, flicking her hair back from her face. Jack can't see the worry in her face, the way she gets up and stumbles towards him. He can only see a sticky strand of hair. The end is dyed red, the maroon standing out sharply against the translucent strands. Her flick fails to dislodge it from the cut on her cheek, and it clings to her face as she stands up and moves towards Jack as though he is a wounded animal, with her hands outstretched in a calming gesture. The devestating realization that he lashed out at his best friend- that he had hurt her in his anger- stricks Jack like a hammer. He turns and attempts to fling himself off the roof. Just then, Winter tackles him, lifting him in the air.  
"Jack, just calm down. I'm going to make this better, I promise." He writhes like a snake in her grip, tears flinging off into the wind that had kicked up again.  
"You can't promise that!"  
"Of course I can. You know me." With that, Jack relaxes, as he lets the smallest spark of hope flare in his chest. Of course, he attempted to brutally crush it while wearing cleats, not wanting to get hurt, but hope doesn't die nearly as easily as that.  
Winter takes the boy back to the pond that he froze in, all those years away.  
"Jack." Their matching blue eyes meet as Winter puts her hand over his. "You survived three hundred years without any human contact." he tries to look away, but Winter's gaze holds him pinned before her like an insect. "What's more, you didn't despair. You remained hopeful, you helped kids. You had fun. Not many people can do that. In fact, I would say only the very strongest of people can endure that kind of misery. You are strong. You can get through this." Releasing him from her hands, she settles back against the tree. Jack hesitates for a second, then curls up next to her, enjoying the contact of warmth against his hands.  
Winter laced her fingers through the broken boy snuggled against her.  
"In the lane, snow is glistenin'..." the blizzard slows to Winter's trademark fluffy flakes as she uses her magic to calm the storm. The boy curled up against her side relaxes as she sings quietly.

When the sun gleams over the horizon the next day, it was greeted by a glittering landscape muffled in a few feet of blinding snow. The drifts blown about created a strange shape to the landscape, like rolling waves across a sea. Many tree branches had broken in the raging storm, splinted by the force of Jack Frost's grief.  
When Jamie first wakes up and sees the snow, his first thought is fear for his friend. He had never seen this much snow... but as Jamie wakes up fully, he shakes his head full of shaggy brown hair and brushes off the childish fantasy along with his dreams.  
Winter scowls at her own reflection in the window as Jamie pulls the curtains shut against the light. Perched on the windowsill like a strange bird, she has been periodically checking in on Jamie to see if he's awake yet.  
_What sort of kid sleeps in until midday, anyway?_ Winter grumbles to herself, before hopping backwards into the pile of snow that has gathered up under the window. She can't help laughing, despite her foul mood, and, hopping into the air, goes off and flys toward the park.

**Ooh, cliffhanger! You must hate me. I'm sorry. The next chapter will not take as long, but it will go a lot faster with reviews favorites, and follows!**


	9. Faith Restored

**A/N Wow, sorry for the wait! School and all that ;P**

**Anyway, I really hope you like this chapter! Feel free to review!**

Winter flies back to the park. Jack is playing with the kids, and although Winter is glad to see him acting like his old self, there's still a hint of darkness in his eyes that Winter doesn't like.

When Frost sees his companion, he knows what it means, and stops playing immediately, standing up straight and staring at Winter intently. The kids beg for Jack to stay, but he forces a smile and sends them off to play by themselves. It's time to implement the plan.

The first part is easy. Now that Jamie is awake, they just have to locate him in the house. Winter is almost certain he's still in his room, but Jack insists on looking in all the windows anyway- Just in case. Then, the pair stand in his front yard. In unison, they scoop up snow and pack it into perfect snowballs.

With deadly precision, they throw the snowballs, Jack a few seconds before Winter. They rap on the window, causing a tousle-headed Jamie to pull back the curtain and peer through the thick frost on the window (refreshed by Jack and Winter while they were scoping out the situation.) Seeing no one in the yard, he turns back to his room, flopping down on his messy bed with his laptop. Luckily, he leaves the curtain open. Jack soars up to the window and does a quick drawing- a bunny, just like the one he did that night. He can't bring it to life, unfortunately- according to North, that would be cheating. And the Man in the Moon doesn't like cheaters.

But when Jamie next glanced at the window and sees the drawing, he opens the door to his room.

"Sophie, stay out of my room!" He shouts downstairs. He closes the door on her protests and settles back onto the internet. Jack looks crushed, but Winter, looking over his shoulder, whispers

"He hesitated." That gives Jack hope, and he hovers over the window while Winter throws more snowballs at the window. Eventually, Jamie loses patience and opens the window with the intent of shouting at the delinquent kids who are disturbing his web surfing. As he pokes his head out the window, Jack dumps a load of snow onto the back of his head, shoving it off the roof. Jamie cries out in surprise, jerking back inside and shaking his head to dislodge the ice in his collar. Winter and Jack both start laughing at the teenager's expression, one of mixed horror and shock.

Throughout the next week, Jamie was plagued by slippery sidewalks, snowy trees, and snowballs from nowhere.

"It's almost like someone is punishing me," he confides to a friend, "or trying to get my attention." His friend laughs it off.

"Man, you're crazy," he says, moments before skidding straight into a pile of snow. Jamie has to stifle a laugh, but his suspicion continues to grow.

Winter watches as Jack gets more and more hopeful, as she feels hope of her own blossom in her chest and sink its teeth viciously into her lungs, constricting her breathing. Yet, fear lurks under her hope, devastating, crushing terror, that she will never get Jamie to see Jack again.

For the next 2 days, Jamie looks more and more uncertain whenever something strange (and cold) happens. Meanwhile, still unseen, Jack's hope grows until it hurts to imagine the future. Finally, finally, Jamie invokes Jack Frost's name.

"Jack Frost?" He says uncertainly into his empty room. Rather, full, because both Winter and Jack had snuck into his house to cover his headphone buds with a thin sheen of ice. Jack turns immediately, but Winter spares Jamie only a passing glance before studying Jack's expression as he leans toward Jamie. Jack is so full of hope he can practically feel his heart bursting from his chest. Winter holds her breath as Jack cautiously approaches Jamie. She gently twitches her fingers, bringing a gentle downfall of snowflakes inside the room. Jamie looks around in wonder, stopping on Jack. The joy that bursts from Jack sends a flurry of snow throughout the room, but Winter carefully checks the snow, keeping it gentle despite her own happiness and relief. Upon seeing the pair embrace, she eases the storm off and slips outside, looping through the clouds on the way to the isolated pond. Her joy manifests itself as gentle flurries of snow. Making a split-second decision, she swerves towards the north- and the arctic.

Winter speeds up, the wind forcing her emotions down. A lake freezes as she flies over it, and a single, inexplicable tear whips away from her eyes, glittering in the setting sun.

The largest snow storm in years rattles everything not tied down on the outside of North's workshop. The large man gazes outside at the howling winds in concern, worried about his young friends. A roof tile, barely clinging to the edge of the parapet, wings off into the storm as the door bangs open. Every eye turns to the door, as a girl with slicked back white hair stumbles in and forces the door shut behind her.

"Winter?" North starts forward. "Are you ok? Is Jack-" Winter falls into North and starts crying, huge sobs heaving her shoulders. North is more alarmed by the second, but, nevertheless, takes the weeping girl to the kitchen and sets her up on the counter with a cup of chocolate milk and some cookies, waiting patiently for her to calm down. Finally, sniffling, Winter wipes her eyes and stares in misery at her cup, clutched between her white fingers.

"Well, this is embarrassing," She says, with a watery chuckle. Seeing that she has finally calmed down, North approaches with the question that has been burning in his mind ever since the snowstorm (Which has cooled down to the whistling wind usual for the north pole).

"Is Jack ok?"

"Yeah, yeah, he's fine. Better than fine..." With that, Winter explained the whole story, with her finding Jack, their plot, and finally the happy reunion.

"So..."

"Why am I so sad?" Winter grins wryly. "Well, I don't know. I just felt so happy, but so sad, and I was relieved, and I just...snapped, I guess." The girl gazes ruefully down at her mug. A teardrop of blood oozes down her cheek like a gleaming ruby. North gently helps her up and guides her down a hall. Sitting her on a clean white counter, he takes out an old-fashioned first aid kit, contained in a tough metal box painted with a red cross. He carefully cleans and puts bandaids on the multitude of small cuts, half healed but torn open again by Winter's breakdown. She looks sadly down at her cared for hands, and for a moment just seems so sad, so small, nothing like the strong young women that everyone knew her as.

Jack bustles in with a hullubullu, rushing right to Winter and holding both of her hands.

"Are you alright?" He asks, blue eyes full of concern for his friend. Winter smiles and nods.

"Thank goodness. I was so worried! As soon as I noticed you were gone, and came and found you."

"Really?" Winter meets his eyes for the first time since he arrived. "You left Jamie?"

"Of course! Jamie will still be there," Jack smiles kindly at her. All the tension leaves her body and she falls into Jack's waiting arms.

Winter knows now why the man in the moon chose her as Jack's companion. He shouldn't be alone.


End file.
